Aftermath
by Joyce LaKee
Summary: What if the Scavos are all wiped out?
1. Chapter 1

Personally, I don't think the entire Scavo family has been wiped out. But with the writers' strike, who knows how long until we know for certain? Besides, Marc Cherry (who owns DH, not me) seems to be a bit of a loose cannon. So this story is written as if Lynette has lost everything.

"Nooo!" Lynette screamed--anguished, devastated. She picked her way gingerly through the wreck that had once been an affluent, upscale street towards Karen McCluskey's house.

Karen was unable to keep up. She followed behind at a slower pace, stunned at the rubble that had once been her beautiful house, her mind unable to wrap itself around what her eyes were seeing. She thought about her house--where she had lived with her husband, Gilbert. And where she had raised--and lost--her only son. All gone. She paused beside a fallen tree limb to catch her breath. She closed her eyes--all her pictures and mementos--gone--crushed under the force of the tornado which had passed through Wisteria Lane not even fifteen minutes ago. She felt a wave of sadness wash through her but before she could give in to tears, she remembered--Ida! Ida was trapped under all that wreckage. And the Scavos! All six of them. No. They couldn't all be gone. They just couldn't.

"No! No! NO!!" Lynette was hysterical now, tearing at the debris over the McCluskey house with her bare hands, scarf awry and showing her bare scalp. _Her hair hasn't grown in since they stopped the chemo_, Karen thought irrelevantly. In the face of such devastation, she wasn't sure what to do first. But watching her neighbor, so recently sick, struggling to get through to her family, she decided.

She hurried to Lynette to help her clear a path to the basement. Lynette was like a woman possessed--now sobbing, then muttering angrily under her breath, and she didn't seem to notice the older woman. They worked side-by-side, oblivious to the sounds of their neighbors emerging from their safe rooms and basements into the outside world to see the devastation for themselves.

Karen had just dumped a particularly heavy piece of wood (_was this part of a window frame?_) off to the side when she heard Lynette swearing. She turned around to see the younger woman holding her leg in both hands. Blood was seeping through her fingers. Swearing again, Lynette savagely tore her head scarf off and started to wrap it around the wound, but Karen stopped her.

"Let me take a look," she said. There was a rather deep gash in her shin and it was bleeding profusely. "You know you'll need a tetanus shot, Lynette."

Lynette stared at her in disbelief for a moment. Then she wrapped the scarf around her leg. "You're a real piece of work, McCluskey."

"Don't take that tone with me. I'm just saying."

"No. Look around you. Do you think any cars can get in or out of Wisteria Lane? Hmm? My whole life, everything in the world I love is under ten feet of rubble and you're advising me to just run right down to the local emergency room and get a tetanus shot?"

"Now just calm down, Lynette."

"I will not calm down! This is all your fault! They were in your basement. If they weren't in your basement..."

"That you invited yourself into, by the way."

"No. I'm not wrong here. And you knew Tom was having an asthma attack."

"Ida--and her cat--were invited by me."

"Yeah, you said that before."

"You know, you're really not making any sense, Lynette. You sound as if you want to be..." Karen stopped herself before she said the word _dead_. "...in the basement with them."

"Maybe, right now, I wish I were."

Karen looked at her sharply but didn't answer. As they waited for the bleeding in Lynette's leg to slow down, they heard sirens in the distance.


	2. Chapter 2

Personally, I don't think the entire Scavo family has been wiped out. But with the writers' strike, who knows how long until we know for certain? Besides, Marc Cherry (who owns DH, not me) seems to be a bit of a loose canon. So this story is written as if Lynette has lost everything.

Both women, who were sitting on the rubble, turned their heads at the sound, then they looked at each other.

"They're too far away. Rescue trucks can't get through the streets any faster than I can dig down into the basement," said Lynette, her voice resigned. She stood up and frowned at the pain in her lacerated leg.

"But you see, Lynette? They're coming. Even if it takes them some time, they're coming."

"Oh, Mrs. McCluskey. _Time_ is a luxury they," and she pointed down, "don't have." She stretched her hands behind her back and sighed, then turned away to think about what to pick up next. _That big chunk of metal's gotta go_. And she started prying at it.

But the piece was stuck more firmly than she had imagined. She grunted and pulled. Then she saw Karen next to her, pulling the metal from the other end.

"No, Mrs. McCluskey. I've got it. It's really heavy."

"Don't be stupid, Lynette. I'm hardly an invalid."

"I didn't say that. But your arthritis."

Karen shrugged. "So I have arthritis. I took my medication today. And..." she swore irritably. "That's another reason I have to help you. My pills are under all this. I should have kept some in my pocket. I should always keep some spares on me."

"Just in case we get in a tornado?"

"Don't be a wise guy, Lynette, you know perfectly well..." she stopped and looked at her. Sarcasm was more like the younger woman's style, but Karen worried that it might be a sign of hysteria--inappropriate humor right before a breakdown. But Lynette gazed back at her steadily, eyes clear.

"Don't look at me like that, Mrs. McCluskey. I'm not losing it. I have to cope with this in my own way."

"So? Do whatever you want. It's certainly not my business. And I couldn't care less, either," Karen added, just to hide her embarrassment at showing her concern for Lynette..

Lynette grunted and resumed clearing out the rubble. All the while she prayed, _Please, please...Oh please let them be alive...Oh, please..._

In the distance, the sirens whined on and on, but never seemed to get any closer. Lynette worked feverishly. She didn't want to stop, even for a moment. She could hear the sounds of her own neighborhood, people opening doors, crashes, screams and cries all around her. Lynette's stomach clenched at the sounds of her friends' shock and dismay as they surveyed the damage left behind, but she couldn't stop to help them. Her family came first. Once she had assured themselves that they were okay, then she could help the others.

"My house! My house! And I just built it, too!"

That was Edie Brit. Lynette wasn't surprised. She knew if she waited long enough she'd hear similar complaints from all her neighbors. But she almost stopped when she heard, most strangely, Gaby comforting Edie.

"Oh, Edie. I'm sorry. But it's only a building. You can always fix it. Just be grateful that _you're_ still alive."

Lynette thought, in a detached sort of way, that she'd have to get the scoop from Gaby of how she wound up with Edie. But that sort of thinking was only a habit. Actually, she didn't really care if Gaby and Edie were friends. Didn't really care if Gaby or Edie were left homeless by the storm, either. And she was so frantic with fear and grief that she didn't even care that she was being self-absorbed. Until she knew her family was alive and safe, she couldn't care less about other peoples' problems. And if they weren't alive...

...She didn't know what she would feel, then.

Karen had paused to look around when she heard her neighbors picking through the debris of their own yards. There were Bree with Orson and the baby--and with Katherine and Adam, too. Weird. Then there was Edie Brit with Gabrielle. That was even weirder. Oh, well. Weird is relative. But she was worried when she saw Lynette, red in the face and driving herself to exhaustion.

"Lynette, why don't you take a break?"

"You know why I can't."

"We can't keep this up forever, you know. We're only human."

"I didn't ask you to help me." Lynette straightened up and looked at her neighbor and her expression softened. "You rest awhile, Mrs. McCluskey. I can do this."

"Then you think you can dig all by yourself?"

"Yes I can. I have to. I can keep digging."

"Well, you're wrong there. I'm gonna help you. Me too."

Lynette started to object, but she saw the stubborn set of her neighbor's jaw.

"Thank you, Mrs. McCluskey."

Karen snorted. "Don't you dare get all mushy on me, or I won't lift a finger." But she fell in beside Lynette.


	3. Chapter 3

Personally, I don't think the entire Scavo family has been wiped out. But with the writers' strike, who knows how long until we know for certain? Besides, Marc Cherry (who owns DH, not me) seems to be a bit of a loose canon. So this story is written as if Lynette has lost everything.

"Victor! Oh no, oh no...Carlos!"

Karen looked around when she heard Gabrielle Solis' (_or was is Lang...Marquez...?--whatever, you needed a scorecard these days_) heartrending scream. She could only see the top of the younger woman's dark head--she seemed to be crouching over somebody in her yard. That slut of an Edie was still with her, but she was frantically punching numbers on her cell phone.

--Cell phone! _Why didn't I think of that?_ Karen thought as she dug in her pocket for her own phone. But she found to her disgust that the service was down. It was on the tip of her tongue to complain, but when she glanced at Lynette, she decided not to say anything.

The truth was, Lynette was starting to scare her. From her first frantic grief, through her nasty argumentativeness, she had passed into a grim determination to get down into that basement or else. Just 15 minutes before Karen heard Gabrielle's scream, she'd tried to get Lynette to stop and take a break. Karen didn't like the way the veins in Lynette's neck were standing out as she tried to move a piece of debris that any reasonable person would have known was too heavy to budge without heavy machinery. But the look Lynette gave her --

Karen was no coward, but she knew better than to cross Lynette Scavo at that moment.

Luckily she was saved from having to say anything by the arrival of Bree, carrying Benjamin in a snugli, followed closely by Katherine.

"Lynette! Mrs. McCluskey! What are you doing?"

"What does it look like we're doing, Bree--getting manicures?" Was Karen's scornful reply.

"As if you've ever had your nails done your whole life," muttered Katherine.

"Now wait just a minute, did anybody ask for your opinion..." Karen flared up, but Lynette, who had stopped digging when she heard Bree, put a hand on her arm and shook her head.

"Tom and the kids are all under this rubble. I'm going to dig them out."

"Ida, too," Karen felt she had to add. Lynette actually sounded sane and reasonable, to her relief.

"Oh honey," Bree said, eyes full of compassion. "Here..." she handed a hat to Lynette. "...put this on."

Lynette took the hat gratefully. It was floppy and wide brimmed with cheerful ribbons to tie it under her chin. Very Bree, but just what she needed.

"You don't really think you can get under all this rubble by yourself, do you?" Asked Katherine incredulously.

"I will," said Lynette as she adjusted the hat, "or die trying."

"In that case, we'll just have to help you," Bree insisted. Then she looked down to inspect her clothes. "Of course, I'll have to go back to my place and put on something suitable for construction work." She turned away and started to step gingerly down the little mound. "And I'll bring back some muffins and coffee. Does everybody want regular or decaf?"

"I don't think it matters right now. We have bigger things to worry about." That was from Katherine.

"Fine. Then I'll bring both," called Bree, undismayed as she headed slowly to her house, Katherine following closely.

When Bree returned, some time later, she brought Orson with her to assess the damage.

"I've brought the food, it's in the stroller down there." And she took Karen and Lynette by the elbows to lead them.

Karen, who was exhausted and hungry, didn't need any prompting. But Lynette resisted.

"I just don't have the time, Bree. Couldn't you bring up something for me to nosh?"

"You need a break. I insist."

"I can't..."

"You can't keep going like this. You're going to wear yourself out."

"But I have to--you don't understand."

"I do understand," Bree said quietly. "That if you saw me in trouble, and acting in ways that I could hurt myself, you'd confront me."

Lynette looked into her friend's eyes. "But I'm afraid."

"I know. We're all afraid. Just take five minutes to rest, Lynette. Just five minutes."

Lynette nodded and followed Bree back to the stroller.


	4. Chapter 4

Personally, I don't think the entire Scavo family has been wiped out. But with the writers' strike, who knows how long until we know for certain? Besides, Marc Cherry (who owns DH, not me) seems to be a bit of a loose canon. So this story is written as if Lynette has lost everything.

A/N Thanks for all the reviews!

Despite Bree's pleading, Lynette barely rested five minutes before she insisted on climbing right back up onto the rubble pile.

Bree turned to her husband. "Well, I can hardly help Lynette and mind Benjamin at the same time, now can I?" Then her eyes slid to Karen.

"Mrs. McCluskey, would you be a dear and watch the baby while Orson and I help Lynette?"

"Sure," Karen shrugged. "Everybody wants me to watch their kids. I don't know how I wound up being the neighborhood day care center." But she took Benjamin gently and cradled him in her arms.

They had just reached Lynette when they first heard the barking.

"Lynette, Orson, look! Rescue dogs!" Cried Bree excitedly.

They turned to watch as the dogs came loping along, climbing up, over, and around the wreckage of the street. They were closely followed by their handlers and a man in firefighter gear who called up to them. "We're evacuating this part of the street. It's not safe for civilians. If you'll come with us, please?"

"Are you doing this house right now?" Lynette called down.

"Yes, ma'am. We have the bulldozers ready at the end of Wisteria."

"So the instant we step down you remove this rubble?"

"Just as soon as we can get the bulldozers through."

Lynette shrugged. "Then you just let me know when the bulldozers are right at this house and I'll get out of your way."

The firefighter was unperturbed by this defiance. "Ma'am, we're doing everything we can to clear the street and rescue the victims. So if you'll just be reasonable..."

"Oh, I am reasonable. I can see your bulldozers all the way over there. But they have an awful lot of debris in the street to push through. Think of it as cooperation. I'll keep working here, and then I'll move when you're actually ready to start this house."

"You can't get under all this without machinery."

Lynette put a hand on her hip. "You can't stop me from trying."

"Sir, Ma'am," he turned to Orson and Bree. "Could you make her come with us?"

"Lynette honey! Please come with us, they have a tent set up and food and blankets and everything," Bree pleaded.

"Oh give it up, Bree," hollered Karen. "Lynette, if you don't come down from there they can't rescue your family. And the longer you stand there flapping your gums at that nice fireman, the longer your family and Ida have to suffer. So get your butt right down here, pronto! Or they don't get rescued. Your choice. But I'm going with the fireman."

Bree gasped at Karen's outspokenness, but it seemed to penetrate Lynette's stubbornness. Meekly she turned and walked gingerly down the pile and followed the older woman away from the McCluskey house and down the street.

As they walked, Lynette became talkative. "Just this morning Preston was teasing Penny. You know how little boys are. And so anyway I yelled at him and told him I couldn't wait for their bedtime so I could have some peace and quiet..." Her voice trailed off.

"Yeah, so?" Asked Karen.

"I wish the last thing I'd said to him was _I love you_ or _you're a great kid_ or _I love spending time with you_. Instead, it was kind of like I wished he wasn't there."

"It doesn't sound like that to me. It sounds just like you wanted some peace and quiet. What's wrong with that? It's not like you threw him out of the house and told him never to come back."

"But how do you think he took it? Do you think he thinks I don't love him anymore?"

"You had to yell at him, Lynette. You couldn't let him tease his sister."

"I know, but..."

"Don't you remember how it was when you were a kid? Didn't you ever tease your brothers and sisters?"

"I only had sisters, actually."

"And I'll bet you sat quietly with them, on the sofa, hands folded neatly in your lap reading Bible stories day after day." Karen's voice was heavily ironic.

Lynette snorted. "Not exactly. We rough and tumbled, just like any kids."

"And your mom--did she discipline you by giving you milk and cookies and a heart to heart talk around the kitchen table?"

"Hardly. She used to beat the crap out of us."

Karen looked at her, surprised and a little pitying, before she smothered that emotion. Instead, she shrugged. "I believe it. Your mom seems like a tough old broad."

"Oh, she is."

"But you don't hate her now, do you? You opened up your house to her."

"I don't know that I opened up my house to her. I needed her when I was sick. Then she needed me. But it wasn't very comfortable having her in my house."

"But you don't _hate_ her."

"She's my mother."

"I know you don't believe in spanking. Personally, I never thought a good swat on the behind every once in a while did any harm. Of course, I don't approve of _beating_ children." And she shuddered. "But my point is, you yelled at him when he acted naughty. But so what? Do you really think he--" and she stumbled again over the word _died_, "--is back there thinking what a mean mommy you are? I know kids. He wants to get back to you just as much as you want him--because he loves you and he knows you love him."

Lynette gave Karen's hand a squeeze. "Thanks, McCluskey."

"You're such a wimp, Lynette," Karen replied gruffly, but she didn't pull her hand away.


	5. Chapter 5

Personally, I don't think the entire Scavo family has been wiped out. But with the writers' strike, who knows how long until we know for certain? Besides, Marc Cherry (who owns DH, not me) seems to be a bit of a loose canon. So this story is written as if Lynette has lost everything.

A/N Thanks for all the reviews! You all are the best.

They were met at the Red Cross tent by volunteers with blankets and hot drinks.

"You ladies can rest up here or go further down the road to the shelter," said the firefighter.

"Here is fine," Lynette mumbled as she plopped down in a metal folding chair.

"We'll let you know just as soon as possible after we get your family and Mrs. Greenberg out. Okay?"

"What if it isn't okay..." Lynette peered at his name tag. "...Anthony Noel? What if you can't rescue them in time and it isn't okay?"

"Now listen--I need you to just calm down, and let us do our work."

"That's easy for you to say. I'll bet you never saw your family squashed under a big pile of rubble."

"Actually, Mrs. Scavo," said Anthony as she looked at her steadily. "I have. I know about tornadoes. And that's why I want to get your family out of there ASAP."

Lynette looked down. "Thank you." She mumbled.

dhDHdhDHdhDHdh

Hours went by as Lynette and Karen waited for news. They watched the trucks and bulldozers and rescue vehicles go in and out of Wisteria Lane, but nobody had any information for them.

"You know, Lynette," Karen said once. "They have cots and hot food at the shelter. Why don't we go there to wait this out?"

"You can go, Mrs. McCluskey," Lynette replied and she put a hand on her shoulder. "I don't mind waiting here."

"But what about that nasty cut on your leg? You really need to get that checked out..."

"I can always go to the doctor later."

"What cut?" Asked a volunteer whose nametag read _Barbee_.

"Oh, it's just a little scrape I got..." Lynette started to say.

"Ha!" Karen interrupted. "It _gushed_ blood. Actually, it was really disgusting."

"Mrs. Scavo, may I see it?" Barbee persisted.

"Thanks a lot, McCluskey," Lynette grumbled but she pulled up her pant leg and let Barbee unwrap the scarf.

"You should have had stitches for this. When was your last tetanus shot?"

"Not that long ago. College maybe?"

Barbee _tsked_ and shook her head. "I'll clean this up and put a new bandage on it. Then you're getting a tetanus shot..."

"That's just what I said," added Karen. "Don't look at me like that Lynette."

"Mrs. McCluskey, would you give us a moment?" Asked Barbee when she saw Lynette glare at the older woman.

"You don't have to throw me out," said Karen loftily. "I was just about to go outside and get a little air anyway."

"Is she a friend of yours, Mrs. Scavo?" Barbee asked when they were alone and she was cleaning Lynette's leg.

"Yeah."

"Does she have any family to look after her?"

"No. Just me. We live--that is lived--across the street from each other."

"I see. You really have to see your doctor about this cut. He might want to order antibiotics."

"I'm not leaving here..." said Lynette warningly.

"I know. I know. You're waiting for news. I'm just saying--as soon as you can. Now roll up your sleeve and give me your arm."

After Lynette's leg was bandaged and the tetanus shot given, Karen came back and sat by her once again. "You wanna play cards?"

"Where did you get cards?"

"Oh...I just sort of found them...laying around."

"Laying around where?"

"Now don't get all judgmental on me, Lynette. I fully intend to give them back. I just want to take your mind off things for awhile."

"I can't play. I'm too out of it to focus."

"Suit yourself." And with that Karen shoved some of the things on the first aid table to the side and spread out the cards for solitaire.

dhDHdhDHdhDHdh

Karen was on her second game of solitaire when she saw Anthony Noel return to the tent. He looked so solemn as he approached that her stomach clenched. He tapped Lynette on the shoulder and led her a little ways away from the tent.

Karen watched as he spoke to her, delivering his news. Lynette seemed to stumble as if she had been hit. Then she slumped forward and Anthony caught her.

A/N: I started writing this because I thought they hadn't filmed the episode after the tornado due to the writers strike. But since I was wrong, and we all learn the fate of the Scavos tonight, should I continue this story but AU? Let me know. And by the way, you guys have been great reviewers. Thanks so much!


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